Annual Report - EDP

: performance :testing the adherence of users to electric mobilityand testing the equipment and systems developedfor the project. SGORME – Sociedade Gestorade Operações da Rede de Mobilidade Eléctricahas managed the public charging network incollaboration with all electric vehicle charginginfrastructure operators. At the end of the yearthere were some 500 users in the system and1,100 charging points installed.Also in this area, the OpenCharge project isaimed at developing low-cost, safe and robustoutdoor charging equipment for electric vehicles.Development of the third version of the equipmentcontinued in 2012 with a view to have a solutionthat can go into production and be installed in anyenvironment for EUR 1,000 or less. The WallboxOpencharge project was also finalised to support theEDP electric mobility offer in the residential segment.In Brazil, electric mobility was promoted throughthe development of a number of pilot projects,resulting in a total of 26 electric vehicle chargingpoints in the states of Espírito Santo andSão Paulo and the distribution of 125 electricmotorcycles and bicycles to the police forceand public safety organisations.3.3.6. innovation“eco-system”EDP has been developing a range of instrumentsto support entrepreneurship and contribute to thedevelopment of good ideas in the field of energy.Such instruments are, for example: the launch ofinnovation prizes/competitions; support for thedevelopment of technological demonstration andconcept prototyping projects; the provision of riskcapital or the incubation/acceleration of energycompanies. This set of instruments constitutes an“innovation eco-system” designed to foster creativityand entrepreneurship in the energy sector.In this context, one highlight is the Venture Capital –Risk Capital Fund, which is managed by EDPVENTURES. By the end of 2012, it had investedmore than EUR 7 million in innovative companiesand funds in the clean tech area. It has also made anadditional investment commitment of EUR 5 million.EDP has also continued work on a number ofactivities that have a significant impact bothinternally and on the relations with the variouspartners. Some of the main initiatives carried outin 2012 were:º º EDP Starter - EDP created its EDP Starterprogramme with the aim of bringing togethercompanies, customers and investors in thedevelopment of products and services typicallygenerated in start-ups. It is an innovativebusiness incubation concept in the energysector that is designed to be an acceleratorfor big ideas from small companies(www.edpstarter.edpinovacao.com).º º Technological Observatory - The aim of theobservatory is to monitor and disseminatetechnological developments in the energysector, focusing on “clean energies”. To this endthe InovNote website was developed to publisha number of studies, including, in 2012, on“Foundations for offshore wind energy towers”and “Energy storage”(inovnotes.edpinovacao.com).Promoting innovationin-houseEDP has been developing and implementinginitiatives to promote idea sharing with Groupemployees specifically in mind. Click Idea, whichwas launched in 2008, was upgraded in 2012with a view to encouraging greater involvementof employees in the innovation process throughEDP - Annual Report 2012their direct participation in the assessment of newideas. In Brazil, the Innovation Exchangehas similar goals. In 2012 more than 220 solutionsto a wide range of challenges – such as processoptimisation, retaining the new generation ofprofessionals, how to preserve knowledge withinEDP and billing and storage ideas – were approvedthrough the exchange system.EDP no Brasil also aims to establish an internalinnovation network throughout the wholeorganisation with its Innovation Mentorsprogramme. Each mentor is trained as a businessand management innovator, taking on new dutiesand responsibilities in the organisation andfunctioning as an extension of EDP no Brasil’sInnovation and Sustainability area.Last but not least, the new Remarks(www.remarks.pt) platform launched in 2012is a collaborative bookmark manager basedon the Enterprise Bookmarking system. It alsoencourages automatic knowledge sharing withinthe EDP community. By using the Remarksplatform as their personal bookmark manager,each employee contributes to building upa collective web knowledge depository thatis filtered by and serves the EDP community.Organisation andsponsorship of innovationawardsIn Portugal and Brazil EDP sponsors a prizefor the development of new business projectsfocused on technological innovation or businessmodel innovation in the area of clean energytechnologies. The competition selects the bestproject each year, awarding a financial prize tothe winning team (R$ 100,000 in Brazil and EUR50,000 in Portugal) to set up the company andimplement the project (www.premioedpinovacao.edp.pt and www.edpbr.com.br/premio).3.3.7. r&d+i in the gassectorEDP also has a number of projects in coursein the gas sector. The following were the mostnoteworthy in 2012:º º LIFE BIOGRID, a project led by Naturgás andlaunched in 2009 to investigate, amongst otherthings, new biogas treatment systems (monocellalgae and cryogenic systems) that convertbiogas into natural gas that can be directlyinjected into the network;º º CADIONAT, a project aimed at using micro andnano electrochemical technologies to developa new carbon dioxide sensor for online and insitu analysis of carbon dioxide concentrationafter injection of biogas into the existing gasinfrastructures;º º INYEGAS, a project for developing purificationand control modules for the safe injection ofbiogas into the natural gas network;º º STIRLING, an innovation project on energyefficiency in buildings, based on Stirlingmotors, to be applied in the new natural gasand renewable energy technologies market;º º EVALGAS, a project aimed at developingnew gas mixture analysis techniques in theresidential/industrial segments; conclusionof this project is expected in 2013;º º Also to be highlight in the area of energyefficiency in Portugal are the On Marketand Service Order Geographic Referencingprojects.61